MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-10-24 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Free speech squeezed by copyrights?
|
Vin, if your going to send more than a couple of these a week, send the to fairuse-at-nylxs.com
Thanx
On 2002.10.24 12:31 Vin wrote:
>
>
> http://zdnet.com.com/2102-1106-963122.html
>
> Free speech squeezed by copyrights?
> By Lisa M. Bowman
> Special to ZDNet News
> October 24, 2002, 4:00 AM PT
>
>
> Rick Sanchez thought the bright folks at Mensa International would agree
> that his Pets or Food Web site was a joke.
>
> He was sure that the site's offers of "freshly clubbed" frozen baby seal
> meat and "a dozen Doberman flank steaks for a Super Bowl party" were a dead
> giveaway. If not, then surely the site's frisky description of fictional CEO
> Sydney Zwibel--a "former animal disposal technician," Mensa member and
> alternate member of the 1984 Olympic Fencing Team--smacked of parody.
>
> So he was astonished to get a letter from Mensa this summer, addressed not
> to him but to his imaginary character, saying Zwibel's use of the group's
> trademark without permission could result in "civil and criminal penalties."
>
> "I was pretty stunned actually that Mensa, which is supposed to be a group
> of smart people, would send me this letter," Sanchez said. "Obviously, Sydney
> didn't exist in their rolls. He didn't exist." Web publishers have long been
> targets of zealous copyright and trademark holders, but free speech advocates
> say intellectual property owners these days are more aggressively training
> their legal guns on both small one-man-band Web sites and the Internet
> service providers (ISPs) that host or link to them, hoping to get pages or
> material removed.
>
> In recent years, intellectual property holders have expanded their efforts
> to deep linking and metatags. Now they're pursuing search services,
> pay-for-play sites and Web libraries. Last month, the Church of Scientology
> sent a letter to the Internet Archive, persuading the site to pull down
> archived pages that were critical of the church's beliefs.
>
> Copyright holders also have gained additional ammunition to demand removal
> of material. The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)--designed to
> update copyright laws in the digital age and assuage piracy fears--carved out
> protections for ISPs that remove alleged violations when asked, but didn't
> require them to notify the site operator or to judge whether the claim is
> legitimate. The ISPs sought the protections so they wouldn't be liable for
> policing their system.
>
> Although the process protects ISPs, it means many sites just mysteriously
> disappear without any determination of whether the pages actually violate
> copyrights. Free speech advocates also fear that many companies and
> organizations are trying to shoehorn their trademark claims into DMCA claims
> in the hopes of persuading ISPs to quickly take down the sites.
>
> "We're seeing a trend toward more aggressive protection of (intellectual
> property) rights," David Schnapf, an attorney with Coudert Brothers, said.
> "Perhaps the forces that are there to protect fair use rights or
> dissemination of information currently aren't as aggressive or strong to
> bring a greater balance to the Web."
>
> No choice?
> Those sending the letters say they're only trying to protect their rights
> amid the untamed and untested legal waters of the Web.
>
> "The Internet offers new and different threats to our corporate identities
> and our individual identities," said Jim Blackmore, national marketing
> director of Mensa International.
>
> The group doesn't have a problem with fictional characters claiming
> membership in the organization--both Lisa Simpson and the blue Power Ranger
> are approved Mensa members, Blackmore said. Mensa went after the Pets or Food
> site because the group pursues those who defame or abuse its trademark, he
> said.
>
> "We did not want to be associated with this man's ravings," Blackmore said.
>
> They may have to put up with them just the same. After consulting his
> attorney, Sanchez decided to keep up the site--Mensa mention and all.
>
> Free speech advocates are hoping that Web operators across the globe will
> take a page from Sanchez and refuse to back down in these copyright
> situations, even in the face of ever more forceful pressure.
>
> To counter the trend toward more aggressive enforcement, free speech
> advocates are trying to publicize the claims in the hopes that people will
> question them.
>
> When Sanchez received Mensa's letter, he forwarded it to the
> Chillingeffects.org site. Launched in February by the Electronic Freedom
> Foundation and legal clinics at several prominent law schools, the site
> provides a clearinghouse where people can forward cease-and-desist letters
> and learn more about copyright and trademark law.
>
> Its backers hope that posting letters like Sanchez's will embolden others to
> stand up for their free speech rights instead of immediately pulling their
> material in the face of a frightening legal threat that may not hold up in
> court. The letters are annotated by law school students who translate the
> legalese into plain English and remove personal information.
>
> Chillingeffects founder Wendy Seltzer said the project grew out of the sense
> that many legitimate sites were being shut down by legal threats. People who
> don't have legal training or lots of money often back down when they receive
> threatening letters from lawyers, she said. She hopes Chillingeffects, at the
> very least, will inspire people to analyze such letters to see if they're
> legally viable rather than just pulling content.
>
> A chilling effect?
> "We want to help people understand their legal rights," Seltzer said.
>
> The legal clinics also plan to gather and analyze data from the letters to
> see if companies are overstepping their rights and trying to frighten people
> out of posting critical or negative material.
>
> "Certainly, what we've seen so far has borne out our concerns," said
> Jennifer Urban, a fellow at the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt
> Hall School of Law who works on the Chillingeffects.org project. "Some sites
> that shouldn't come down are coming down. That could have serious
> implications for the Internet."
>
> The law school clinics hosted by schools such as Harvard University,
> Stanford University and U.C. Berkeley, plan to examine the various legal
> arguments--perhaps as fodder for challenging new digital copyright laws that
> some say go to far.
>
> One of the cease-and-desist recipients could eventually provide a test case
> to challenge some of the new laws, or the Chillingeffects organizers could
> present the data directly to lawmakers.
>
> The site even has a deal with Google, which forwards all of its DMCA
> cease-and-desist letters to Chillingeffects for public posting.
>
> Chillingeffects organizers praise Google for bucking the trend of removing
> Web pages without a trace. In addition to forwarding the letters, Google also
> notifies customers when they've received a letter about their sites.
>
> "We wanted to make the process more transparent," said Kulpreet Rana,
> Google's director of legal affairs. "Our purpose is to help people find
> information."
>
> If a page has been taken down, Google displays a notice at the bottom of its
> search page, saying it has been removed in response to a complaint from a
> copyright holder
>
> Rana said some of the disputed pages clearly violate copyright laws, but
> most fall into a gray area. The effects of the partnership are still unclear,
> however. Google hasn't noticed an increase or decrease in the number of
> letters it's received since the company began posting the letters eight
> months ago, Rana said.
>
> No measurable effect
> Overall, the efforts of Chillingeffects and others to make such letters
> public doesn't seem to be tempering the habits of those who send them, say
> intellectual property attorneys.
>
> "There's not enough visibility," said Schnapf, the Coudert Brothers
> attorney. "For every letter that shows up, there are 100 letters that don't.
> It's not an important part of the equation."
>
> What's more, tech-savvy attorneys have been writing letters for years as if
> they would show up on the Web eventually.
>
> "Chillingeffects is simply accelerating an already existing trend to be
> careful about what you write and to assume whatever you write is likely to
> show up on the Web somewhere," said Mark Radcliffe, an intellectual property
> attorney at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich. "It can be very embarrassing if
> you're too aggressive."
>
> Indeed, some intellectual property owners have found that out the hard way.
>
> Warner Bros. incurred the wrath of Harry Potter lovers worldwide when it
> sent a letter to Claire Field, the 15-year-old owner of a Harry Potter fan
> site, ordering her to take the site down because it allegedly infringed the
> company's intellectual property rights.
>
> Field made the claims public, and supporters rallied around her. The company
> eventually reversed its position and allowed Field to keep the site as long
> as she didn't try to make money off it.
>
> In another case, Sony was attacked for pursuing a fan of its Aibo robotic
> dog. The fan set up a site showing people how to tinker with the dog so it
> would dance. Sony eventually called off its lawyers under protest from Aibo
> fans, who read about the dispute on Web sites.
>
> Meanwhile, Sanchez plans to keep up his Pets or Food fight, inspired in part
> by others who've stuck to their guns. If he doesn't come out on top of legal
> battles, he has another plan: Sanchez is in the process of taking the Mensa
> test, so the group can't dispute claims he's a member.
>
> "I want to get in," he said.
>
> ____________________________
> New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
>
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